Stories for July 23rd 2018

”The worsening situation in Nicaragua is alarming. The United Kingdom reiterates its condemnation of the violence in Nicaragua, in particular the deliberate excessive use of force by police and pro-government armed groups against the people of Nicaragua, which has led to an increasing number of injuries and deaths.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s largest economies said on Sunday that heightened trade and geopolitical tensions risk derailing global growth and called for greater dialogue, according to the final communique of a G20 meeting.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, met with Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri, Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne and Central Bank Governor Luis Caputo in the context of the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Buenos Aires over the weekend.

Brazil's far-right presidential hopeful, Jair Bolsonaro, officially kicked off his campaign on Sunday, blasting the political center but softening his incendiary stance on gays and blacks three months before wide-open October elections.

The finance ministers for Mexico and Canada on Sunday said they were optimistic about NAFTA talks with the United States, even as trade tensions spurred by U.S. tariffs dominated the G20 meeting of world economic leaders in Argentina.

United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there’s no chance of a currency war erupting. When asked whether investors should be concerned about the prospects of one, he said “no,” declining to elaborate during a press conference in Buenos Aires on Sunday.

A deal with the EU can be reached by October but the UK is preparing for the possibility of no deal, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has said. Raab is expected on Thursday in Brussels for further talks and pledged to strain “every sinew” to get “the best deal”. But, the government had plans in place in case talks did not end well, he admitted in an interview with BBC.

The UK Government position is unchanged: only the Falkland Islanders have the right to determine their own political and economic future, stated Phillip Hammond in Buenos Aires where he attended a two-day G20 ministers meeting.